Lady Cat
by Ellered
Summary: An Egyptian artifact Lady found could prove very interesting. Implied DantexLady. 2nd chapter written by a male friend by the name of Tyrant Hamster, and who has not gotten a registered account on this site. He likes to review anonymously everywhere.
1. Chapter 1

Authors notes: This idea was presented to me byfellow author, Vampy Sparda. So, by forcing me, and with agreement, I'd write it. I hope it is a fun story for those who like this stuff.

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_With their qualities of cleanliness, discretion, affection, patience, dignity, and courage, how many of us,_

_I ask you, would be capable of becoming cats?" - **Fernand Mery** Her Majesty the Cat_

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Once upon a time, there lived a devil named Dante and his little Lady named,_ Lady. _Now upon closer inspection, the devil is a half breed and he was responsible for naming his little Lady.They fought side by side against the forces of evil. They had much in common, mutually being orphaned, and both had a penchant for guns. But at the end of the day, they always parted ways after a hard days hunt. 

On this particular date, it was an event that would be memorable for both of them in more ways than one. The ebony haired girl blew her bangs out of her face and waved at her best friend, "See ya later, Dante!" she would call out, her Kalina Ann weapon hung over her back like a school girl with a heavy back pack, "Maybe we'll catch up again tomorrow and get more of those suckers!"

He in turn liked to flirt with her, even after she shot him in the head a couple of times. Dante got her back twofold as he dominated her on the first day he met her. He had to since after all, she had a stubborn streak in her that would not budge until he made sure she was weak, and listened to his ramblings about father and family too.

Today, because it marks a special day, Dante not knowing that it would turn out so, did his usual by winking at her, clicked his tongue with a lift of his grin, wiggled his white brows, moved his head slightly so, so that his silver bangs would move to show off his baby blues. And with a swagger and pull of his leather pants, pointed a finger at her in a shape of gun, "You know it, babe."

She rolled her eyes and the dark haired little angel had already hopped on her new cherry colored bike and proceeded to speed off home.

Leaving the half breed boy standing there with a great big sigh, "One of these days." He muttered, but forgot all about his small dilemma as the smell of pizza came his way. The delivery boy was just in time. After tipping the pizza boy, Dante hopped on his chair, lifted up his legs to set his boots loudly on the desk, jarring the contents atop. His mother's portrait sat there staring him.

"Yeah, mom, yeah, I know, I know….I should ask her out on a date." He turned away from his mother's soft and almost reprimanding look to sink his teeth into a pepperoni pizza. He sat back contentedly, his legs crossed atop the desk and finished up with a bottle of soda, looked back at his mother, "Alright, I'll ask her. But how?" he then saw one of Lady's weapons on his jukebox. "What the—…" then he remembered. They had been dancing a little before they did another round of shooting. A smile grazed his lips as he remembered her cute butt moving to the music. She was a load of fun to be with.

At the other side of the tracks, the little Lady had just pulled into her garage, turned off her bike and jumped off. She lived alone, but the loneliness was bearable. Lady could do whatever she wanted without anyone telling her what to do. Plus, she added as an afterthought, there was Dante. Her reliable and powerful partner and best friend.

That brought an easy smile on her face as she made her way upstairs to her flat. When Lady thought of him, which was irritably often, though pleasantly sweet, she could laugh and smile more than she's been able to before he had come into her life. It was good to be in cheery moods these days, and what an irony since they enjoyed shooting up demons all the time.

Sometimes, Dante would go off on hunting trips without her, because the adventure was too dangerous for humans. So she would travel elsewhere in the world less perilous with her Kalina Ann by her side. And by doing so, the young lady would pick up artifacts from different countries. Whereupon as she entered her little home, she was welcomed with many unusual and foreign relics that sat on her coffee table, bookshelves, and some in her bedroom. She often took her leisure time to research on the artifacts she picked up from demon hunting to find out about their background.

Going into the kitchen first, she took out a small carton of milk and poured it into a clean glass. Walking into her living room, she plopped her Kalina Ann by the door, and proceeded to sit on her two seater leather couch. She was quite the decorative demon hunter, with a taste for mahogany, cedar and wood furniture. And a penchant for leather as well.

Taking a healthy gulp of her fresh cold milk, she picked up her Archaeological magazine and flipped through the pages to find anything interesting. Upon finding some Egyptian articles on mummies and ancient tombs, she was intrigued at the familiar icon that stared at her from the page. These were the cat symbols and the design of cats in Egyptian culture.

Lady glanced at the wooden box with inlaid designs and a cat engraved on it. She hadn't even opened up the box and wondered of its contents. It did feel slightly heavy when she picked it up back in Egypt shooting off some demons that decided to terrorize the city there. So instead she read on, _Descriptions of cats began to appear in Egyptian art around 2600 B.C., but took on a more well-known function after 1600 B. C. They were often shown in paintings curled up under their owners' chairs, doing small activities._

"I really should get a pet." Lady mused to herself. She kept on reading: _Young Egyptian women used cat amulets, called "utchats," as fertility tokens, praying to have as many children as the number of kittens shown on the amulet._

With that, Lady choked and coughed on her glass of milk and set it down, wiped off her lips with the back of her gloved hand and pursed them in disgust, "Fertility tokens?" Then she glanced over at the wooden box again, giving it a suspicious look, "Well it's not like I'm going to get pregnant anytime soon." She chuckled at that, since after all, she had no clue about guys except her best friend Dante, who endlessly flirted with her, but never enacted anything else. Not like she would allow him.

It sometimes made her frustrated that he never asked her out, but she remembered when she told him with aversion, "Date a demon? I'm not that desperate." And worse still, when he moved in to kiss her, she turned her head away. That must have been a low blow to his delicate ego. Well, she mused, _it's not like he was going to get anything after beating me up. Although…..when he came back to give me Kalina Ann that day and the days after that….._ Shaking her head to clear it, Lady thought she was growing mad from her extended company with Dante.

With a brave heart, she reached over to the box and opened it. There sat a small figurine of a cat and a scroll. She took out the scroll and saw the Egyptian inscriptions. Knowing a little of Egyptian symbols she tried to read what she could, "Make a wish come true. If true of heart, pure of body, and of soul, your hearts desire shall be granted in more ways than one."

Lady's dark fine brows lifted, amusement sparkled in her bi-coloured eyes, "Granted?" then picked up the small cat figurine. She almost laughed aloud for the demon hunting human felt that this was all a fine joke. "Okay, I wish Dante would fall in love with me as a cat!"

She didn't know where that came from, but it was a funny sort of joke, since after all, she didn't believe in wishes.

Within seconds, Lady felt very strange. Her world toppled upside down and she felt her body getting smaller and smaller, the box in her hand fell on the floor, the figurine of the cat shattered into small pieces and the scroll rolled off under the table.

Lady looked down to see that she was possessed of four legs! _Paws! _And when she tried to scream, noises of mewling came out that she was horrified. _Oh no!_ Her thoughts fled to the horrific vision of her being a cat that she ran into her bedroom and looked into her full length mirror. There in the most terrible of all things to happen in the history of shape shifting and transmutation was her in all black with white stripes, her bi-colored eyes stared back at her. The scars she had on her human form were now replaced with white thin stripes. As a cat, she looked rather funny to her eyes.

With an angry disposition, she sauntered off to find that scroll to see if there was anything to be done with this. When she searched for it, her paws tried to unroll the parchment, tore at the delicate paper that she paused at her clawing. Lady realized with an even more dreadful comprehension that she'd ruin it. The noise outside took her mind off of her current dilemma for a moment. She hopped onto the chair to look outside the window.

_Demons!_ They were attacking the neighborhood, a soldier of vanguards swiping away at a family of humans who were running, screaming frantically to get away. Lady's first instinct, not being aware that she was still in her dilemma, jumped out the window and onto the bushes below to scramble out of it and run towards the demons.

She jumped up to one vanguard who swiped his scythe over a human who now had cowered and ducked, only to start clawing the face of the fiend. The cowering human ran away as soon as Lady Cat distracted the demon.

The demon roared in pain and tried to grab hold of Lady Cat who had clung on for dear life. Falling back on the ground with a noisy thud alerted the other demons, seeing their ally in danger. Demons generally didn't care if their comrades fell or died, but the feisty little cat was scratching up a tornado on their partner. They went after the cat.

Lady cat hissed and clawed as she saw the rest approaching, and felt a skeletal hand reach over to grab her back, threw her across the alley into the garbage cans. It was very painful, but Lady Cat scrambled out of the dumpsters, jumped out and saw them approaching. They were going to corner her into the end of the alley, their boney hands on scythes and faceless expressions closing in.

One took a swipe at her and Lady Cat barely flew out of the way, the surface of the scythe hit her on the side and she was sent flying into the cardboard boxes, a mewling noise came out of her.

Disoriented for a moment, she hissed, stumbled back on her four legs, and wished she had her guns with her. Then with quick reflexes, Lady Cat avoided another hack as the blade cut open the other boxes in pieces, allowing her leverage to jump on the demon close to her. She made such a huge noise that when Dante had come upon them by the screeching and snarling noises she made, what he saw made his eyes very wide.

"What's this? A little hellcat against a few vanguards?" Then he was angry as one vanguard grabbed hold of the funny looking cat and threw it across the alley into the garbage cans.

"Alright, showtime!"

Dante drew his guns, proceeded to shoot simultaneously at the demons, they turned around and shattered. One demon came up from behind and started to swipe at him, but Dante evaded it easily, and with one quick smooth move, stabbed the vanguard with his rebellion, "That'll teach you to pick on those smaller than you."

When all the demons were cleared off, he approached the injured cat. Laying there barely breathing, the small animal appeared to be unconscious, the fur ripped off in some areas and there was sticky blood on the back.

"Awww, poor thing. Come on, we should find your owner."

He lifted up the injured feline and realized it was too late in the evening to call around to find out, so he'd try tomorrow. Tonight, he'd have to make sure this cat was taken care of.


	2. Chapter 2

_Note: **This 2nd half was NOT written by me. It was from our very friendly guy, known as: "The Tyrant Hamster" on live journal. Three cheers and applauses for him for making a lovely 2nd half and he said he highly enjoyed writing this story. **_

**_Thanks to Chris for writing a nice 2nd half. He is a wonderful fresh writer from the UK._**

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Lady opened her eyes weakly in the morning light, and tried unsuccessfully to rub them with her hands, still getting used to being a cat. Dropping her fury limbs and whimpering, she felt her feline senses start to pour into her mind, telling her a few things but mostly that she was hurt. The black and white striped cat craned her neck down and winced, seeing her previously smooth, fine fur torn and spoiled with her own blood as well as some dirt. Lady wondered if she would have any new scars once she became human again, and that thought made her wonder if and how she would return to her natural form. 

Rolling onto her feet, or paws for now, she winced, her feline form didn't inhibit the catlike agility she normally possessed, but it was a little more frail than her sweet yet tough regular body. She turned around on the spot, trying to get her bearings, she recognised the room, but only just. OK she thought, she needed clues, right, well firstly she was on a bed, so this would be a bedroom. Lady felt oddly pleased with this deduction, even though it was a simple one, and hoped she'd get back to normal before a ball of yarn amused her. She focused harder, a bedroom with a bed has an owner, so the owner of this room would be… Dante!

Lady almost jumped, realising she had been sleeping all night on Dante's bed, and now that she looked around it became obvious she was right. The spare drum in the corner, the heavy metal posters on the wall, and most of all the general mess completed by the empty pizza box under the bed her fine nose detected, the place was Dante all over. Realising this fact, Lady suddenly felt an urge to explore, she knew she should try and figure a way out of her situation, but here she was, a spy in perfect disguise, infiltrated into Dante's inner sanctum. Curiosity killed the cat, but Lady was a tough kitty and she couldn't pass up this opportunity to sniff around, just for a few minutes.

Jumping off the bed, she looked around, and took a sniff of the air. Sure enough, it smelled of him, although not as strongly as she would have expected, his scent was present, but she had to sniff or pay attention to her nose to notice it. Looking briefly under the bed she laughed as only a cat can, there was an empty pizza box shoved under there, she wondered how old it was. Moving on she stalked about the room, enjoying her guilty access.

The feline stretched once or twice, trying to shake off the clinginess of her dried blood in her fur, it was irritating, she'd have to wash it out, but at least she could walk alright. Turning her head she saw a beat up laundry basket, and her paws were walking towards it before she could think. Hopping her front up, she got her paws over the low edge and peered inside, seeing mostly socks, mostly with holes in, and a pair of trousers like the ones Dante usually wears, but no shirt she noticed. As she leaned a little closer, she saw one more item poking out of those trousers, and she leaned in to try and pull it out and see what it was. It was just, just out of her reach as she stretched further, further, so close to snagging it. Suddenly the basket shifted under her weight, and she meowed as it flipped onto its side, catapulting the contents onto her.

Lady scrambled out of the barrage of fabric, and turned wildly around when she heard the door click open, Dante striding through. The devil hunter, who had nothing but some casual jeans on, stopped and laughed upon seeing her, "Hey, those are mine" he chuckled. Lady cocker her head, and then couldn't see out of one eye, realising that something was hanging over her head. Shaking and pawing at it she removed the article of clothing only to find it was his underwear. If cats could blush, she was burning up right now, she certainly felt it even if it didn't show, Dante laughing some more at her antics. "Haha, demon fighter by day, laundry thief by night, cats these days" he mock-sighed while playfully shaking his head, before striding over and carefully picking her up, "Come on, lets clean you up".

Dante turned, holding Lady in his arms against his naked stomach and kicked the door open to walk through. Lady realised she was purring, and abruptly stopped herself, surprised at herself but also at Dante, he was holding her so gently, so caringly, and his stomach was so smooth and warm and, she was purring again. Lady would have slapped some sense into herself, but she lacked the proper limbs for such an action, so instead she tried to focus on memories of Dante slaying demons and other not-sexy thoughts while her body tried to convince her to rub up against him. She blamed the body, yes, that was it, cats were suckers for attention and cuddling and all that, no way this was her fault, not at all, even a bit, nope.

Dante carried the on-off purring cat through the back of his offices and into his bathroom, another slightly rundown room that worked, but little else. He closed the door with his foot and put Lady down on a stool, then turned to the bath and got the taps running, talking as he did, "I usually shower, so, I hope this isn't too hot or cold".

Lady watched him with confused emotions as the tub slowly filled, he was about to give her a bath, naked, but, she was already naked, and it wasn't really her naked body, she was just in it, so, it didn't really count, but if she enjoyed it, did that mean something? She was still wrestling with her thoughts when she heard Dante dip his hand into the water, testing it with his fingers, "Hmm, nearly right, just a little warmer" he said, running the hot tap for a couple more seconds, and trying again, "Perfect".

The white-haired half-devil turned around and went to grab the cat, but she scooted back out of his reach, earning a playful sigh from him, "Come on, don't tell me you like being covered in blood". He leaned over and went to gently grab her again, but again she retreated, this time into the corner. Dante shook his head, "You're as bad as Lady, she can't tell when people just want to help either, come on, those cuts will get infected if we don't clean them up soon, just let me help you out now and you can go back to being an independent cat, alright?". Hearing this suddenly made Lady feel, oddly ashamed, like she'd done something stupid, and she slunk over to the half-devil, letting him pick her gracefully up and ease her into the water.

Normally cats hated getting wet, and Lady wasn't exactly a fan of it either, but she bit down the urge to jump out and settled down, it was a nice and warm wetness at least. She watched as Dante searched around for something, finally pulling out a very dusty bottle of bubble-bath. He blew the thing, and when the dust cleared and he finished coughing looked inside to see if any was left. There were a few drops in the bottom of the container, and Dante checked the back to make sure nothing would irritate a cat, before realising he didn't have a clue what would and wouldn't do that.

Shrugging, he offered the bottle-top to Lady, asking "What do you think? Its left over from when my mother used to wash me as a kid, so its old, but do want what's left?. Lady timidly sniffed the hole, wondering if she would pass out or be attacked by mutant germs, or insulted, the stuff inside was nearly old enough to vote after all, it should be going through teenage rebelliousness right now. The strong smell that filled her delicate nose certainly came across as powerful, and somewhat strange, but it didn't seem too bad, and right now Lady felt a few bubbles might make for a helpful distraction, so she meowed positively. "We have a winner" Dante smirked, turning the container upside down and squeezing the contents out, swirling them with the empty bottle a bit to raise a small militia of bubbles.

Lady tensed, feeling Dante's shadow fall over her as he rested his hands on her back, about to begin washing the blood and dirt out of her fur. She was kind of worried he would hurt her, in her weakened state, but much more concern came from the idea of his hands roaming all over her body, even if it wasn't really hers, she was in it, would experience it. But she couldn't bring herself to fight him, the only way he could understand is if he knew who she was and she didn't want that, not yet at least. Confusion was still playing through her mind as his hands ran down her back, immersing themselves in the water before rising back up and beginning to run through her fur, dislodging the mess stuck to it.

Lady sighed, or the cat equivalent, and had to steady herself on her front paws, his hands, felt so good. She purred, his fingers were moving up and down, through her fur, gently but with a certainty as he rubbed tingles into her flesh while getting blood and dirt out of her fur. She didn't know if he was for some reason bizarrely talented at this, or if her cat senses simply amplified the sensations, or a mix of both. All she knew is, far from the half-rough treatment she was expecting, the half-devil was unwinding her with a heavenly touch that made her whole body tingle and slink into relaxation. "You've got a nice coat under here you know? Rich black, kinda like Lady's…" he said half to himself, his mind wandering as his hands worked her sides clean. "She's not that bad really, she's gotten better, the first few times I tried to help her I got shot at, once with a rocket"

Dante chuckled, remembering how he rode the missile around the room, whooping like a kid in a candy store, that had been fun. "We fight together now, but sometimes, I wish she would let me help her more. I love her fire, all feisty and independent, but sometimes you need help I guess, heck, even me and Vergil fought together against Arkham" he continued, just thinking out loud as his hands rubbed Lady's tummy clean, unaware that she was hearing all this. "I dunno, whatever, maybe I'm just lonely or something, I'll probably feel better after your dry and I put on some music" Dante's skilled hands caringly cleansed the cat's hind legs, and moved out to catch a few bubbles before returning to her chest.

Lady tensed, she would have screamed or something, but it caught in her throat as he cleaned out the fur around her upper torso, her mind going a mile a minute, 'Come on Mary, stay cool, these are not your breasts really and he is not feeling you up, he's cleaning your fur, he'll be done in a moment, just stay very still'. Sure enough, it was only a little while before Dante had cleaned that part of her, and moved on, swiftly rubbing down her front legs as she breathed out. The half-devil gave her an odd look, "Oh, glad I stopped talking? Even cats don't want to listen to me, I've got rotten luck with women" he sighed, shaking his head lightly.

He scooped some water up in one hand and tipped it over her head, washing off the little filth that had accumulated there, thankfully that part of her had emerged pretty unscathed from the battle. Lady shook her head reflexively, spraying Dante with a mist of water, "hey, cheap-shot " he complained before grabbing her up and taking her out of the bath, putting her on the floor. "Alright now don't do anymore shaking off, just one second, here it is" Dante said, grabbing a towel and dropping it over her, rubbing it all over her body rapidly, but not too roughly. After a minute of this he raised the towel off her and ran his hand over her back once, "Seems dry enough, OK, stay here, you'd do a better job grooming than me anyway, I'll just go make a call". Dante smiled and got up, leaving the room to get on the phone to see if he could track down a lost and found pets list, or shelter or something. Lady shook herself, still a little damp but more or less alright, and looked at the slightly ajar door, now was her chance. She pawed the thing open and slipped out, quietly and quickly starting to hunt for Dante's stash of magical items, perhaps she could find something to help her out.

Meanwhile, in the office, Dante was having little luck as he dialled another number, "Yes, hello, Dante speaking, no its nothing critical, look I'm just trying to find out if this cat I found has a home or, yes a cat… Yeah alright, sorry to waste your time" he said mockingly, slamming down the phone before sighing and trying to think of another number. After a moment he got one, and started dialling it, muttering to himself, "Ungrateful asses, lets see how little time they have next time a demon is raping their wife or eating their children". He heard the other end pick up and launched into conversation before they could even speak, "Enzo, its Dante, listen, I like being able to count to ten on my fingers, how about you? If so, find out where I can leave a cat in good care, now" Dante ordered and slammed down the phone. On the other hand, Enzo stared at the receiver for several seconds before saying several things he wouldn't have wanted his mother to hear. "Right, now, I should sort out something for the cat to eat before I leave to meet up with Lady" Dante said, turning to head back to the bathroom.

As he did this, Lady felt like cursing, but she didn't know any cat swearwords. She'd searched all over his place and was now on upstairs rooting through a case for something, anything that would help her get back to normal. Suddenly a golden glow caught her eye, and she tugged at a piece of cloth covering the shiny object, finding out it was a large gown of some sort. She pulled and pulled until the whole thing was out on the floor, and hopped back up to see a Golden Orb, lying there before her. At first disappointed, she began to wander if maybe this rare item could help her. She looked around, at the room, thinking, and then her eyes settled on the window, and she had an idea. On the one hand she might die, but she reassured herself that she faced death a lot and it wouldn't be the first time she'd relied on a Golden Orb. Lady grabbed the object in her paws, struggling to hold it as she pulled the smooth object out of the case, hearing a voice coming from the stairs. "Come on cat, give me a break, where are you?" it was Dante looking for her, she panicked and hurried, he wouldn't just stand by and let her commit suicide or use one of his valuable items. She backed up, and prepared to dive through the window, when suddenly it occurred to her that, if this worked, she'd wake up naked in an alley.

Thinking fast, she grabbed the gown, rolling over it and wrapping it around her awkwardly, it would have to do. Just managing to hold the Orb in her mouth, she heard the door creak open behind her as she started to run at the window awkwardly. She heard Dante gasp and start to run after her, "Hey, what the, bad kitty!" he shouted after her, breaking into a run to stop her. He was fast, but she already had a head-start and had leapt through the window before he could stop her, breaking it, cutting herself but ignoring the pain. She fell, turning in midair and seeing him leaning out the window, looking at her with confusion and horror, then she felt a hard impact, and the world left her.

Dante cursed, wondering what the Hell was into this cat, and bolted out of the room and down the stairs, intending to go round the side and se if the poor, crazy thing was still alive, too surprised to think to follow it out the window. Meanwhile Lady's eyes opened, and she felt her spirit return to her body, yes, her body, the resurrection had restored her own form, she cheered mentally. Looking down though, she quickly got to grips with her situation, she was lying naked in a back alley, her exposed ample breasts and supple form a glaring advertisement for rape.

With lightning reflexes she jumped up and wrapped the gown around her, even pulling the hood it oddly enough possessed over her face, before looking up to the window to see if Dante had witnessed all this. She saw he hadn't, and wondered where he could have gone, when suddenly she realised he might be coming round from the front to see if she was still alive. Acting quickly, she dived behind some bins, just as the white-haired youth, still in only his trousers and some shoes he had put on while on the phone, came round and walked up to the spot she had fallen. Dante looked around, down at his feet, and then around again, before sighing and shrugging, raising his arms and eyes to the heavens as if to say 'why me?'.

He turned and shook his head, before jogging back round, Lady slowly coming out of hiding after he left. She sighed in relief and planned a route back to her place ASAP, she couldn't exactly walk around looking like this and besides, Dante would probably be coming over. Deciding on her path, she set off, running through back alleys and streets in nothing but a hooded gown at 10am, holding her arms across her front both to keep that gown closed and stop her breasts bouncing, wishing so badly for a bra right now.

Half an hour later, Dante knocked on her door, Lady opening it and letting him in, fully dressed and ready for battle. Dante blinked, normally they just set out, but he didn't turn down the invitation, and nodded his thanks before walking in. Lady closed the door and turned to him, answering the questioning look on his face, "Oh don't worry, we'll get going in a few minutes, I just thought we could take a moment to, relax and catch up, is that OK?" she asked. Dante shrugged and nodded, "Uh, sure, if you want to" he said, a little unsure at this strange twist. Lady smiled and walked to the wall across from the one he was leaning on in her hallway, looking at him and making a little small talk, "So, how's it going?". Dante shook his head, "Weirdly, I think its going to be one of those days", Lady raised an eyebrow as if to ask for an elaboration. Dante sighed, "Well, firstly this is a little strange, although not unwelcome" he added, then paused, wondering if that didn't come across as too friendly, before deciding the pause was worse and pressing on.

"Oh and this cat I found last night, after I cleaned it up and tried to find her home or one for her, stole a Golden Orb from me as well as some rag, broke a window and killed itself. So yeah, strange day so far" he said, shrugging lightly. Lady smiled, "Hey, don't worry about it, besides, I bet that cat is fine, you know what they say, nine lives, she's probably having a good time right now". Dante cocked an eyebrow at her, "How did you know it was a female cat?" he inquired, Lady mentally kicking herself, stupid mistake she thought, but she recovered well, grinning and saying "Just call it Lady's intuition". Dante laughed lightly, "As you say Lady, so, ready to go kick some demon ass?" he asked, pushing off the wall, his eyes coming alive at the suggestion. Lady smirked, "Looking forward to it" and, grabbing Kalina Ann, she and Dante walked out together, ready for another day of fighting side by side.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors note**: I really didn't want to write a 2nd chapter in my version, because Chris wrote his side for me. But, Vampy Sparda threatened me to write it anyway since I started it, and promised to do so. She really loves** fluff**. 2ndly, my friend Ki Ki wanted me to finish it off with my variation, wanting a female's touch to it. Either way, I thought Chris's version was great, and I'm happy he wanted to write it. I hope you enjoy my adaptation, even if it is just an extra bit for more Lady and Dante fun interaction.

This was written weeks ago, but couldn't finish it, because it was a pain in the butt to write.

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_The smallest feline is a masterpiece...Cat Quote by Leonardo da Vinci _

_Actually, cats do this to protect you from gnomes who come and steal your breath while you sleep. - **John Dobbin** _

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Lady Cat didn't stir for quite awhile, but it took Dante enough time to clean off the dried blood off of her soft fur. It was the best opportunity to brush her down, then realizing that the cat was a female, he chuckled, "You sure fight like a cyclone back there, little one. You would really like my friend Lady. Infact, she's a lot like you."

She didn't move, but he could tell that the little feline creature breathed, and Dante smiled at the thought that the cat would make it through the night.

He wasn't much of a pet owner, but he had a soft spot for animals. He had kept Cerberus on for a lot longer than his other weapons, keeping the ice nunchucks for play and fun. It was fun showing off with it. They were great for a good work out when there were no demons around to thrash and destroy. Dante was the only one who could conjure up the defeated guardian's soul from its voluntary prison. It was not really smart to have them all under one roof either, not to mention that Cerberus alone would freeze up his entire home. Beowulf, he couldn't really summon from his prison, because this was his brothers' kill. He ended up selling the Beowulf, getting a lot of money for that, and found to his disconcertment, the high price Nevan was asked for. His former drums were destroyed, along with the guitar that was smashed to pieces, and Lady was generous enough to give him back some items that he couldn't replace.

Still, he kept those weapons longer than he would like, finally selling them for needed cash. He was too damned proud to take money from Lady, even though she had a lot of money from her departed parents. Lady wasn't much in the generous mood when she found out he had also demolished her motorcycle. Angry as a hell cat, she insisted on another battle, and he allowed her to win this time. It wasn't enough, really, for she was insatiable, wanting to go with him on hunts and fighting alongside him. As he brushed the soft, sleek fur of the cat with his fingers, he couldn't believe how much he was thinking about _her_. Normally, he'd shrug off those thoughts as if it were nothing, going on with life as it always was, before and after Lady.

She never did tell him her real name.

He cradled the cat in his arms and walked into his bedroom, looking for a small blanket to set her on. Instead, Dante ended up placing the black and white striped animal on his bed, setting her against his pillows. Her paws were white, like she wore white boots similar to those of a Clydesdale. The half demon kneeled down, his face close to the cat, "Rest now, cause when you wake, I'll have a bowl of milk for you."

Dante stood up and gave the cat one last look before turning to the door. The sound of mewling stopped him. Turning around, he found himself looking at the awakened cat, her eyes a familiar, yet distant reminder of something…….

"Hey there, little one, you should be resting. But if you think you can handle yourself, I underestimated your will to heal."

This coming from Dante made Lady want to scream, _You cannot know how much I'm hurting right now!_ And she was. Her body ached even in that animal body, and she was equally aware of the fact that for the first time, she was in Dante's room. Her nose wrinkled up with distaste, and she mewed loudly as to voice that aversion, lifted up a paw as if to offer something. The half demon chuckled, absolutely amused at this animal, a huge smile spread across his face, his light blue eyes sparkled, which shocked Lady.

He had always smiled, moreover, laughed at her, with her, gave her plenty of smiles, but this one, she never saw. It was warm _and_…..she shivered, realizing that she had to move around, get her blood moving. She hopped off the bed, ignoring the intense pain that shot through her body, knowing how much she had to find that parchment back home. There was no way she was going to remain a cat. Dante watched the determined little being struggle to move about, mewling loudly as she walked. He took pity and picked her up, "Hey now, I'll hold you until you're able to get yourself back on your feet a hundred percent. In the meantime, you'll just have to get used to being held."

Lady Cat was not happy at this bit of news and tried to struggle, but he tenderly held her against his body. The strength and gentleness of being held like that made her uncomfortable, among other feelings she cared not to feel. She loved Dante as a friend, and realized that she had to stop being the independent girl, and allow him take care of her. At least until she was healed enough to run back to her flat and get her almost ruined parchment. Then with an even greater disconcertment, the parchment spells probably had to be reversed by a human, which would be herself. Now how in the hell was she going to do that?

_Think, Lady, you can get yourself out of this mess, but now_……Now she was hungry. The grumbling sound from her tummy was making her most uncomfortable, even though she was just in the body of her cat self, embarrassment would have stained her cheeks at the noisy reminder that was heard quite clearly. Dante smiled at her, his strong arms held her like a baby, and she was amused at the way he was so natural at this. It's not as if she was a baby or an expensive, fragile, porcelain doll exported from god knows where. Purring loudly, she allowed herself the luxury to cuddle against his tummy, and giggled inwardly at the noise there. He was probably as hungry as she was. Dante liked to eat, and most healthily too; she realized, and is most eager to see what kind of food he would conjure up for her.

Peeking out from under his arms, her bi-colored eyes scanned the kitchen. Oh dear, she sighed inwardly, it's not a wonder she hated to go in there. The place was a mess, with plastic and paper plates and glass bottles of empty tomato juice, smeared pizza stains on the counters, the smells of stale food nearly making her want to crawl back into the haven of his arms. But, curiosity killed her as Dante opened up the refrigerator, revealing to Lady the near empty contents. There was a half filled bottle of something that looks suspiciously like milk, one tomato juice, and two slices of pizza, topped with cold cheese and pepperoni.

"Heh. I guess you and me will have something after all. I can only offer milk right now, and I'll go out and get you some cat food."

His deep voice sounded like an echo chamber against her ears, her cat ear against the naked belly of her protector. She didn't complain, and purred noisily. When Dante took out the milk and searched for a paper bowl, he poured the milk out. It went out in clumps and he squinted, gritted his teeth and finally sighed, looked down at the injured cat, and started to apologize, "I'm sorry, it looks like I'm going to have to go out and buy you some fresh milk. But you're going to have to stay here so that I can make a quick run on my motorcycle, okay?"

If Lady could smirk right now, she would, because the need to laugh was great. She couldn't wait to tease Dante later about how he liked to talk to animals. She should name him Doctor Doolittle.

The smell of curdled milk made her wrinkle her nose, realizing that it wasn't that much different than the smell of his room. He had a lot of dirty socks lying around. It reminded her of what the mens' locker room would have smelled like. Not that she's ever been in one, but that she's always heard about how sweaty athletic men smelled like reeking old socks, strong under arm odor, and other unmentionables. This quelled her stomach even more. Lady was not a woman who would tolerate stinky men, and if she ever got with Dante, and _that would be_ _the_ _day_, she thought this with disdain. She would make sure he had clean socks, place small air fresheners in every corner of his room, and bathe him good. But, she was not his mother. He would have to learn to do that on his own. _He was old enough for christ's sake_! Still, without any motherly guidance, how would he know how to care for himself in those areas? Especially a guy like him. She'd known his type before, only to appreciate there were more depths to him. Feeling a sense of kindred emotions with Dante as they both lost parents to evil, she cuddled closer, purring against his taut belly, and if she could hold him, she would.

Dante grabbed the pizzas, placing them on the paper plates. Lady also knew he wasn't the kind of guy who would bother with dishes, buying the disposable plates and cups for his benefit. He really didn't need them either, as he continued to eat his pizza, at least once a day, a bottle of tomato juice for B1, metabolism, energy, and preventive prostate cancer. She realized with his healing abilities, he was only capable of healing his injured body, but diseases were another matter. Lady waited patiently as he headed back out to his desk, planting his feet up, set Lady Cat on his tummy, and broke up pieces of cold bread to feed her.

She eagerly ate them, recognized how good it was to eat one of Dante's pizza. Besides, it's not like she had any choice. He ate his other half and after they had consumed their dinner, Dante caressed her fur, with long slow strokes. Lady purred madly, her eyelids slowly slipped closed, and she enjoyed this feeling of being a cat. Stretching out her body, her claws retracted, and the half demon jumped slightly at the feel of their sharp ends.

"I see you enjoy this. You have such soft fur. Looks like it's time you get some rest. I'll go and head on out to the store to grab a few things while you sit tight."

He saw that the cat appeared to agree willingly, Dante got up, placed her down, her tail swished as she looked up at him. Watching him grab his red jacket, he headed out, and then after a few moments, Lady heard him start up his motorcycle until it faded away from a distance.

Dante was back instantly, one hand held a box of pizza, the smells of it emanating out, causing Lady Cat to purr. His other hand had a bottle of milk. She ran to him and started to jump around with eager anticipation. Finally, after they had settled down again for some fresh food and drink, Dante leaned back, smacked his lips together, burped, and rubbed his taut belly. There were still a couple of slices of pizza left.

"Look at you!" he teased at her, "You eat like a….well you may eat like a dainty cat, but you sure have an appetite!" He saw her eye the last two slices and he shook his head, pulled out a hand from behind his head, shaking a finger at her. "Nuh uh, you're not having any more. It'll make you sick. Besides, those last two are mine!"

"Hey, you know, you're pretty good company, I wish I could keep you." Then regretted what he said, "Nah, can't have a pet with my life the way it is. I have a hard enough time trying to protect Lady from getting herself into scrapes. Not that I think she couldn't handle herself, it's just that I get a bit too protective….."

Lady became immediately amused at how he talked about her, and sat herself next to his mother's portrait. Dante stared at them--the cat with bi-colored eyes and his mother's image. "You both are the women in my life, you know that?" He raised a bottle of tomato juice at her and drank it.

Lady blinked, didn't know whether to be offended or be flattered. After all, he didn't know that she was a cat. Did he even forget her? The girl whom he claimed changed his whole attitude about family? The person who brought him to his senses, appreciating there was more to life than just emptiness and lost family?

With her slyness, she would teach him, alright, and she made a move for the pizza.

Deftly picking up the food when he wasn't looking, the warm breaded side of the slice of pizza between her teeth dangled from her mouth. She jumped off the desk with quick agility.

"Hey! Get back here with that pizza! I told you that you've had enough, you stubborn little feline---!" Dante got up clumsily in his rush to get at her; she was too quick for him, as she darted away to and fro. He gritted his teeth; his white bangs hung over the light eyes, which were now shining with a mischievous glint, anger and amusement notable in his voice, "Come on, now! Get back here!"

She dived under the coffee table as Dante nearly scooped her up, barely catching her. With agile footing, Lady jumped up and down counters and chairs, avoiding Dante's hands.

"Do I have to devil trigger to get you!" He joked, not really enjoying the fact that he was being bested by a little cat. Dante tripped over a box that was in the way as she made a u-turn, hopping over boxes to avoid the devil hunters grasp. He went down on the ground in one clumsy fall, and he lay there for a moment, grumbling out obscenities. Lady paused, the pizza still dangled from her mouth. She ran back to him and laid the pizza on top of his head. Laughing inwardly, she was really enjoying the temporary body.

The half devil groaned aloud on the floor, the warm pizza on his head.

When they had settled down, he took her up in his arms again and she allowed him to pet her, cuddling her against him. It was very late. Dante murmured to her, stroking her soft, smooth fur, "Little hell cat, what do you say you and me go to bed?"

Her cat self mewled as an agreement to his spoken words, and allowed him to lay her on his bed, ignoring the smells of his room. As she cuddled closer to his pillow, it smelled of him. The strong masculine scent of him tickled her nose.

She slept for quite awhile.

The next morning, she stretched her body, cuddled up to the warm body next to her. Her eyes flickered open. Lady looked at Dante's face, inches from her cat self, and sighed. She desperately wanted to be herself again. He had woken up moments later, aware of the little animal next to him, he reached over to pet her fur and rumple her ears. "G'morning, bright eyes. You know, your pretty eyes look like….." He stopped petting her to scratch his head; furrowed brows knotted his expression. "I can't seem to place it, but I got good news. I can make you a fresh breakfast from last nights' milk." He winked.

Lady raised her paw and in a gesture of thankfulness, she glided them on his shoulder with gentle precision and mewled softly.

He gave her a gentle smile. The corners of his eyes made soft crinkles that accentuated his light azure eyes, causing Lady's heart to beat faster. She liked this intimacy they had, even if she was just a cat, the gentleness he gave her was an entirely different Dante she was used to. Sure, he was rough on her, played with her, teased her all to hell and back, and she was no different. Lady gave him back every inch of what he gave her. They were like that, fighting, making up, friends again, pretend enemies when Dante aggravated her. She was sure she irritated him as well. But, in the end, they laughed together and backed each other up.

Loyalty was something they both fiercely possessed.

She watched him as he got up and pulled back the blankets. To her horror, he was naked. She mewled and turned around with embarrassment. Lady heard him chuckle, "What's the matter? You act like you actually…." He paused, narrowed his eyes disbelievingly and then shook his head, "Nahh, you're not a demon, I would know instantly. But you sure act as if you're not a cat."

Lady jumped down from the bed, and proceeded to run to the door, desperately trying to claw her way out as he searched for something to wear. He was laughing at her now, could hear the way he had always laughed at her when she was being stubborn. "Come on now, you're not that desperate to get at some milk are you? Just give me a second to find some pants."

She closed her eyes, thinking madly, _Don't even think about turning around! I know you liked what you saw, but control yourself; you're not like those girls! The ones that go insane over the looks of him WITH his clothes on! _

Dante pulled on a pair of trousers he found, and a pullover sweater that Lady had given him for his birthday present last year. She glanced over at him anyway, because damn her, she was a cat! Cats have a terrible irresistible urge to be curious as hell!

When they were downstairs, Dante poured her a fresh bowl of milk. Lady purred, lapped up the milk, and later, sidled up to his pant leg. She was feeling a whole lot better, and it was time to get out of his home when he wasn't looking, jet out of there and find her way back inside her home.

Instead, she listened to him dial the phone, called up the police department to report a missing animal. _NO!_ She climbed up on the desk with one swift move, pounced on the receiver, causing Dante to mutter a curse, "What the heck are you up to?"

Lady jumped off, ran to the door, clawed on it, and mewled loudly. Dante shook his head, "Damn, you're just as demanding as Lady! Where do you want to go? Gonna show me where you live? Is that it?"

She mewled in reply. He nodded, "Alright, show me the way."

Comprehending that he had to take her to her home, so that he would utter the parchments written words of reversal spells, she just hoped that he wouldn't make any wishes! He was about to stroll away from his bike, an indication that he thought they were going on foot. Lady Cat jumped up on his motorcycle, and lifted her paw to point in the direction where she wanted to go.

Dante widened his eyes, "What the--?" He didn't question anything, but proceeded to get on his bike and steer his vehicle towards the way. When finally they arrived in front of Lady's home, he sputtered, "Hey, this is Lady's home. Are you---?" He looked down at the cat that was now making her way up the stairs to the front door. She pawed at the door and mewled loudly.

"Lady never told me she owned any pets."

He knocked on the door, but found that Lady Cat was smacking his pant leg with her paw. She ran towards to one of plants and knocked it off, revealing a small key beneath dirt and broken pieces of ceramic pot.

"How the---" He exclaimed out loud. Dante didn't say anymore as he opened the door.

When they entered, he was greeted with the smell of cedar and soft perfume. Lady's perfume. Dante glanced back to the cat, his furrowed light colored brows marring his expression, "Ok, what's up?"

Lady Cat ran to where the scroll last lay and she picked it up with her teeth. Showing Dante the delicate piece, he picked it up, read it, and after a few moments, laughed, scratched his head and winked at her through his curtain of white bangs.

"A wish, huh?" Then as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep, understanding dawned on him, "Lady……" He whispered.

She closed her eyes, mewling loudly, her paw pawed the air.

There was a roguish grin on his handsome face, "Why would I make a wish to have you back as you were? I, for one, would like to make a wish myself. After all, there's one wish for each person."

He was greeted with a bite to his leg. "OW!" Dante looked down and she hissed at him. He chuckled, "Now, why would I make that wish now? After what you just did?"

Lady Cat started to panic. No_! Oh come on, Dante! Don't even think about it, or I swear, I swear_…..she knew that he was in complete control. Again.

If she could cry, she would, but she didn't, she wouldn't, not for him, not for anyone. If she could scream in anger, she would do that too. And all she could do was to wait in agony; Dante slyly gave her a side glance, walked over to her couch, and purposely set his dirty boots up on the arms. He glanced at the disapproving look Lady Cat gave him. Then allowed his lean, muscular body to fall back on the furniture, Dante became utterly relaxed as he set his hands behind his head.

"Let's see, I've always wanted…..yes, I've always wished….." He continued to tease her mercilessly, watched the poor cat mew until she could no longer convince him to read the incantation.

"Ok, okay, I will do this, but in one condition!" Dante raised a finger at her.

She was willing to do anything at this point, even to go as far as clean his dirty socks and underwear! Lady saw her opportunity to be on top, she pounced on his stomach and dropped one paw down upon him. _Hard._ He yelped loudly, causing his body to move forward. "Damn! That hurt, woman! You're equally pitiless as a cat!"

Her bi-colored eyes challenged him, but he wasn't fazed one bit. Chuckling with the greatest pleasure, he continued, despite the pain in his abdomen. Gritting his teeth, he said through them, "All I ask is a kiss."

She stopped her slow torture of pawing his stomach and nodded her head. It was only a kiss after all._ If_ _that's all this macho devil hunter wanted, he'll get it alright._

Dante gave her one last wily look, winked, and then uttered the incantation. Within moments, she felt her body change; the fur started to disappear and was not being replaced with human flesh. Looking down, her body grew and grew, glad to be gone of the inconvenient small shell she was in, and Lady was back as she was, birthday suit and all!

_"_OH MY GOD!"She screamed out, because now she could talk. Covering herself with her hands, she realized it was a fruitless task, and he stared at her with his mouth agape.

"Close your mouth, Dante, you wouldn't want to get flies in there!" Lady ran to her bedroom, closed the door with a resounding noise. Left alone, Dante managed to close his mouth and gulped, his adams apple moved up and down from all the gulping. He was _so_ looking forward for that kiss.

When finally, she emerged from her room, Lady was wearing a thick sweater, a jacket over it, a pair of pants, and her signature faded red laced boots from underneath.

"Where's my kiss, Lady?" He said immediately, ignoring the fact that she deliberately put on a lot of clothes.

"You're incorrigible; you do recognize that, right?" She huffed at him, her arms folded, and she had tapped her booted foot noisily against her hard wood floors, "You act as if you've never seen a girl naked before! You have a poster girl on the bathroom door for crying out loud! Not to mention, your girly magazines in your desk!"

"Come here, Lady," He whispered hoarsely. She gulped and sighed, unfolding her arms. He was right. He deserved a kiss and more.

When she went into his arms, she purred involuntarily, tensed as she heard it. Dante chuckled against her hair, inhaling her feminine scent, "But I've never seen you naked, Lady." He grazed his lips against her soft cheek, closed in on her lips, capturing them as she parted them under his gentle urging. Within moments, Lady wound her arms around him and they ended up kissing longer than she originally wanted. Her one leg bent, one foot on tiptoe, she moaned against his lips.

They parted their kiss and looked at each other. Dante searched her bi-colored eyes, "I think I can make you purr again…"

"If you think you can make another wish, and assume you can make me a cat again, you're mistaken, Dante," She breathed, her heart still hammering against her chest. This was just one kiss, she thought to herself, and then they'll go back to being partners, fighting side by side, against evil, against everything that threatens their world.

"I wasn't talking about wishing you into a cat again, Lady." He grinned.

"Oooohhh!" she pushed at him, and he fell back against the couch, laughing at her innocence and feisty naive love.

Later that day, Lady told Dante about her ordeal, about how she got that artifact from Egypt from one of her adventures. They chatted and joked together like they always did, enjoying each others company. She even bought him two boxes of pizza after they rode their bikes to a shady part of town, where they shot down a hundred or so lower demons in a scant few minutes. Lady raced him back to his office on her bike. Winning by a few yards, Lady turned her bike in one fluid motion, and faced him with a mischievous glint in her eye. She revved up her bike, the way she did a few years ago when they first met at the gates of Temin-nu-gru. Dante sat on his bike, had put on the brakes in front of her. They stared at each other for a few minutes, and then Lady broke the contact by making a funny face at him, her tongue stuck out, "Stop looking at me like that, you fool!"

Lady hopped off the bike and ran to the office, laughing, "Last one is a smelly sock!"

She barely made it through the door first as Dante used his super strength to reach her, and with quick reflexes, she grabbed hold of him, wrapped her arms about his neck, bringing them both at the entrance of his establishment.

"We're even!" Lady panted, "I guess that means we're both smelly socks or……"

He leaned in, surprising her, to steal a kiss, "How about if we just make out upstairs in my room among the smelly socks I own?"

She chuckled and shook her head, "You're so romantic, Dante. How could any woman resist you?"

"They don't, only you….but, I think, I'm making progress."

The next morning, Dante came downstairs to find Lady in his kitchen. He had given her the keys to her home, as she did with him. They trusted each other, and since they had no family, they were left to be the only ones. Until the day Dante would find his mother and brother, but not until…..for now, he had her, and she had him. The smell of fresh coffee wafted from his kitchen, and found to his delight, a Lady who had cleaned up his mess and made him coffee.

"It's Brazilian coffee, the best kind." She winked at him playfully.

"You're awfully sweet to me lately, Lady. You should be a cat more often."

She sat down across from him on the kitchen chair, her hands held a cup of coffee, "I thought that, well, it's my way of saying thank you, Dante, I mean, Doctor Doolittle."

"For what?" he smirked at her comment, took the coffee and sipped it. He then grabbed the sugar bowl and dipped five full teaspoons of raw sugar in, causing Lady to wrinkle her nose at the amount of sugar he consumed. He drank up and smacked his lips together, "Mmmm, Waking up to a fresh cup of coffee and a beautiful devil hunter……can life get any better?"

Lady knew that he liked to say things to her to make her roll her eyes. This time she just smiled back at him, appreciated his silly humour, the cheesy lines when he encountered a demon, but most of all, because he was her best friend.

She lifted the corner of her lip, "Nope."


End file.
